Survival in a Death Game
by Ree-Dur
Summary: There was something wrong with Kazuto, he's been aware of it since he quit Kendo. He hates the look in the eyes of people who know the truth, his only solace was video games, a perfect outlet for his urges, worlds free of consequence. But now, he's trapped in a world of consequences, where he's expected to fight for his survival.


Kazuto was angry, he really didn't like Kendo but he was forced to practice it. "Kiai!" He shouted as he swung his shinai down from his shoulder.

Kazuto had no interested in Kendo, he didn't care for the rules or moves, it was boring, a waste of time.

It was just too simple:

Intimidate his opponent then plan accordingly, if they went on the defensive then disarm them, if they went on the offensive then make then lose their balance. If that didn't take them out then bait them out and counter attack.

He would rather spend his time on his computer or reading his mom's magazine, but no, he had to waste his time. It was stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid!

"Stupid!" Kazuto shouted his thoughts as he parried the attacking shinai off and struck with his own. "Stupid!" He shouted and parried again before switching the hand holding the shinai and striking. "Stupid!" He struck the extended wrist and followed the arm back to the head. "Stupid!" He brought his weapon above his head and swung down at the fallen body.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!Stupid! Stupid!" Kazuto continued to shout as he struck, too lost in his anger to call the match. "I! HATE! KENDO!" He shouted and emphasized each shout by striking with full force.

The sounds of sniffling and heaving breathing caught his attention, Kazuto looked down at his opponent.

Suguha, his sister, was looking up at him with fear deep in her eyes as they streamed tears and blood ran down the side of her head, he noticed a blood soaked sleeve was where his shinai rested, her Men had fallen off and she was using her Kote covered arms to shield her face. Her breathing was ragged and erratic.

Time seemed to freeze for Kazuto as thoughts raced through his head, he dropped his weapon. "I'm quitting Kendo." He said to his sister as he picked her up and carried her out of the dojo.

Sword Art Online was a MMORPG that took place in virtual reality. The servers were going online on 2022/11/06/ at 1:00 PM.

Kazuto flipped through the latest magazine covering the NerveGear, as he sat at his desk, the current topic was about the most anticipated game being released.

_Sword Art Online._ Kazuto started but as he flipped the page he cut his thumb on the edge, a small drop of blood bubbled out before sliding down his palm. _A world where I'm not a monster._ He wiped the visible blood off his hand with a tissue as he stood up and walked to his bed.

Kazuto dropped the magazine and picked up a helmet with wires, this was the NerveGear, he plugged everything in and checked the connection.

Before he could get in his bed, movement in his peripheral caught his attention, he looked out the window and at his sister walking away. He closed his curtain before putting the NerveGear on and lying down.

Kazuto looked at the interface '12:59 AM' it displayed, he took a few breaths before the time changed.

"Link Start!" He said to initiate the FullDive as the clock struck 1:00.

Reality seemed to blink away as Kazuto's senses where stripped away from him, after logging into his account his senses returned.

Only now he was seeing a town square filled with people and hearing idle chatter.

"I'm back." Kazuto whispered with a smile, then he started running.

_First I'll grind some boars for money then I'll buy-_

"Hey, dude!" Someone called out, interrupting Kazuto's thoughts, Kazuto turned to look at a thin man with red hair held up by a bandana and beginners armor running towards him. As the man caught up to Kazuto he smiled at him. "You seem like you know what to do here, can you lend me a hand?"

Kazuto looked over the man and considered his choices. "I'll help you with the basics, but then I gotta bounce."

"Thanks, dude! Call me Klein." Klein said as he extended his hand.

"Kirito." Kazuto grabbed and shook the hand as he gave his name. "Keep up." Kirito said as he let go of Klein's hand and continued running.

"You got it Boss!" Klein said and followed Kirito.

They exited the town through a gate but Kirito didn't stop till they reached an open field. "You've played a MMO or an RPG before, right?" Kirito asked.

"Yep! But this is my first time in a FullDive." Klein answered.

"Okay, the rules are pretty much the same but the controls are different." A wild Boar spawned a few feet from the two as Kirito was talking. "Instead of pointing and clicking." Kirito started as he pulled out his sword and held it over his shoulder. "You act!" His sword glowed and he shot towards the boar, a glowing red slash appeared on the mob as he went past it before it shattered into polygons. Kirito swung his sword back into its sheath and turned back to Klein. "Got it?"

"That looks so cool!" Klein shouted enthusiastically as he copied Kirito's movements, but his sword didn't glow.

"You have to lead the sword, then the System will assist, it's more than just the position, it's about your intention." Kirito told Klein.

"My intentions?" Klein repeated.

Another Boar spawned and Kirito pointed at it. "Hold your sword up again, but this time attack that boar."

Klein followed the instructions, and smiled when his blade glowed, he leapt forwards and let the System guide him. "Yes!" He cheered as a notification popped up to inform him of his kill and his rewards.

"Good job, now let's talk about my payment." Kirito said with a smile.

"Aw, what? C'mon dude." Klein complained.

"Don't worry." Kirito waved his hand in the air nonchalantly. "I'm a fair guy, considering you get 30 Cor for killing a boar and that we started off with 500 Cor to choose our gear, and I'm guessing you didn't spend any before you came to me, I'll ask for that 500 Cor."

"No way, man! That's all my money!" Klein said as he shook his arms.

"Relax, you'll make the money back after you farm these boar, about seventeen would suffice, the only reason I'm not doing that is because of the respawn rate is too slow for what I have planned."

"I don't know man." Klein was still iffy about handing over all his money.

"It's a pretty fair deal, I taught you how to kill and gave you a good hunting spot, I just want to skip the grinding and get to the next town."

Klein looked conflicted before another Boar spawned, he looked at the mob then at Kirito. "Fine." He said with a sigh and opened the trade window.

"Pleasure doing business with you, oh and a free tip, aggro one but don't kill it, it will bring up the spawn rate." Kirito said as he accepted the trade and he sent a friend request to Klein. "If you ever need help, for a price of course." Then he ran towards the next town, or at least in the direction.

Kirito had another location in mind, another hunting spot, one where Dire Wolf Spawn, they don't offer much in Cor or loot, just about 40 Cor and some Wolf Hide or Claws, but they do give a decent amount of Exp. It's definitely a risk considering his current skill level, but if he dies he'll just spend some Cor back at the town for better armor.

As Kirito mentally planned out his goal, a Dire Wolf spawned in his path, Kirito didn't slow down as he drew his blade, when the Wolf noticed him it charged towards him. When the two were less than ten feet apart the Wolf lunged at Kirito.

Kirito took a different approach, he slid, and when the Wolf was directly above him, he swung his sword across the belly of the beast, bisecting the monster.

Instead of checking the pop up he got for killing the Wolf, Kirito readied his blade as he scanned the trees ahead of his path, trees that three more Wolves stalked out.

The three Wolves circled Kirito as they snarled at him, then, in unison, they all lunged at him, Kirito darted in between two of the three and swung his sword at one, it didn't kill it, but it did put it in the path of the third Wolf, but the second Wolf was almost upon him, he didn't have enough time to activate a Sword Skill so he used his arm to catch the Wolf.

The third Wolf tore into the first Wolf, killing it, and the second Wolf bit down on Kirito's left arm, taking his HP down by half, and causing him to 'Bleed.'

Instead of killing the Wolf that bit into him, Kirito spun and at 180 he sliced into the third Wolf, then before a complete 360 he slammed the Second Wolf into the third Wolf as the sword in his right hand glowed he shot the tip down at both of them, piercing and killing both.

Now that all the monsters were dead, Kirito checked the pop ups, he was now at level 3 and had gained 120 Cor and 3 Wolf Hides and Two Wolf Claws. He was also at 15% total Health thanks to leveling up, he should take it easy since he's at low health, but now that he encountered the Wolf and leveled up, they'll just get easier from here on.

And so for three hours Kirito grinded as he ran around the forest, occasionally picking fruit and killing birds as he trained his Skills.

He was at level 12 when he was forcibly teleported to the town center.

As the blue lights faded Kirito saw that he wasn't the only one summoned, the town center was filled with other players, who were voicing their confusion.

Then the sky turned red, and blood rained down before coagulating and forming a robed figure. "I am Kayaba Akihiko, I Welcome to my world. As of now, I am the only person who controls this world." A voice came from the robes.

_Kayaba__ Akihiko, the mind behind the SAO and the NerveGear and the one who made complete virtual reality._

"I'm sure many of you have noticed by now, the logout button has been removed from the main menu." Kayaba continued.

A quick check for himself confirmed to Kirito what Katana was saying.

"This is not a bug or mistake… I repeat, this was not a mistake, but rather, my intention. I welcome all of you completely, this is now your reality, no one can log out, the NerveGear cannot be removed or powered off, if the NerveGear is tampered with it will release a small but powerful pulse that will fry your brain, killing you. I've warned the public, and sadly some have ignored it, taking two hundred and thirteen players from our world and their world. If you want to return to your old world you must clear this game, but no this, you only have one life, if your HP drops to zero your brain will also be fried, defeat the boss on the 100th Floor to clear this game. I wish you good luck." With that, Kayaba disappeared, and the town center was bathed in light once again, when the lights faded, everyone looked different. Not that Kirito was paying attention.

Kirito stalked down an alleyway while he was lost in thought.

_Kayaba, you've turned this Virtual Reality into our only Reality, things have meaning and consequences once again, death means more than respawning, life means more than having fun._

"Kayaba." Kirito hissed, and smashed his fist against a wall, ignoring the pop up, as his mind raced to the memories of when he went to far with Sugu, her fear filled eyes and her body wrapped in bandages to the memories of the doctors and his 'parents' talking about him, and when he got in trouble at school how the other kids looked at him. The memories of the look of Fear in Sugu, the look of devastation and pity in his 'parents', the look of hate from his peers, eyes filled with fear, hate, disgust, eyes that finally caught up to Kirito in this world. No longer can he say it's just a game if he wanted to kill someone, no longer can he say it's just for fun when he fights. And it's all Kayaba's fault. Kirito punched the wall again. "Kayaba! YOU WILL PAY!" He screamed to the sky.

Kirito twitched and ran out of the town of beginning, he needed to get stronger and make Kayaba pay.


End file.
